The Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee Lacks Integrity and Principles: Why It Matters

The Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee is a profoundly troubled organization that produces truly problematic candidates and, worse, engages in corrosive campaigns that offend rather than educate.

Why Should Saratogians Care about This?

As of the last count, there were 9523 (41%) registered Democrats compared to 6578 (28%) registered Republicans in Saratoga Springs. There are also 7164 (31%) who are not registered with any party. There are 237 registered Conservatives and 82 registered in the Working Families Party.

This gives the Democrats a decisive edge in local elections. Regrettably, and this is true for the Republicans as well, many voters are too busy with family and work to follow politics very closely, and they simply vote for all the candidates of their party’s line on the ballot.

In the last local election in 2023, the appearance of One Saratoga as a political option shook this process up. Many people, unhappy with partisan politics, took refuge in One Saratoga. This was the first time One Saratoga had a line on the ballot and three of their four candidates won-two registered Democrats, and one registered Republican . Democrat Chris Mathiesen ran on the One Saratoga line after the Democratic Committee refused to endorse him or even allow him to address the full committee. While he did not win, he drew enough votes on the line so that Republican candidate John Safford defeated Democrat Ron Kim.

In spite of the inroads One Saratoga has made, the bottom line is still that whoever gets the Democratic line has a distinct advantage to win city elections.

This means having a functional and thoughtful Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee is essential because they select the candidates (unless there is a primary) who will have the strongest chance of governing Saratoga Springs

This city needs a thoughtful Democratic Committee if we, the voters, are to be provided with credible candidates. We also need a thoughtful Democratic Committee if issues are to be addressed in campaigns in a way that serves the public.

Problematic Party Leadership

The Leader of an organization is a statement by the organization as to who they are.

Otis Maxwell is the chair of the city Democratic Committee. He recently sent an email to his committee (reprinted below). The email explicitly warned against sharing it with the blogger. There was good reason for this caution because the email demonstrates the need for the committee to reform itself.

Unfortunately for Mr. Maxwell, it found its way to me. The following are highlights from it.

Chairman Maxwell’s Email

A Potluck dinner?

Maxwell has been trying to organize a potluck dinner for the committee. Apparently, his invitation to the event has drawn very little interest. Maxwell wrote: “…we need a critical mass of folks to respond, and so far we have very few.” This would suggest that the rumors of a disaffected and divided committee may be true.

Baseless Attacks?

Maxwell asserts in his email that “…baseless attacks by our MAGA opponents on our current elected officials are having the desired effect of discouraging people from coming forward.”

It is true that City Council members endorsed by his committee have been the subject of frequent criticisms. It is extraordinary that Maxwell simply dismisses these criticisms wholesale as though they are meritless. He does so by throwing red meat at the committee members by simply attributing the criticisms to”MAGA opponents.” He conveniently conflates being a Republican with being an adherent to MAGA. While some of the critics may very well support MAGA, most of his critics (myself among them) are not supporters of MAGA, and many of them, like myself, are Democrats.

I have emailed him asking which “attacks” are baseless. I don’t expect a response, which again demonstrates what is wrong with Maxwell and the committee that selected him as their chair.

Here is a sample of some of the “attacks” he dismisses.

• The On-Call Scandal
• The bullying of former Director of Risk and Safety Marilyn Rivers, whose resignation resulted in the city’s insurance carrier dropping the city. The replacement carrier now costs the city an additional million dollars a year.
• The belligerent and crude behavior of past Mayor Ron Kim was documented to the entire region in an epithet-laden rant that appeared on the TV nightly news.
• The continuing toxic behavior of the endorsed Democrats on the City Council.
• The wrongful denial of FOIL requests and the allegedly false certifications submitted by Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran.
• The poorly crafted and arbitrary budget that was crafted by Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi.
• The alleged use of city employees to perform work at the private home of former Public Safety Commissioner Jason Golub.

The Committee Chair’s inability to acknowledge any culpability for elected officials endorsed by his Committee dooms the city to continual scandal. The Democratic endorsed Candidates have made Saratoga Springs the laughingstock of the capital district.

The Very Worst

In his email, Maxwell writes, “I feel somewhat muzzled by the resolution that was passed at our last meeting but among friends (and please don’t leak this to our pals at Moving Saratoga Forward and Saratoga Springs Politics)…”

In a previous post, I discussed a resolution adopted by the Democratic Committee. Simply put, it disavowed public officials’ use of public employees for their personal benefit and asserted that people charged with a crime should be considered innocent until proven guilty. My understanding was this resolution was prompted by the attempts of Maxwell and Dillon Moran to dismiss the validity of the charges against Jason Golub and Joe O’Neill by attributing them to an array of conspirators.

While Maxwell claims he feels muzzled by the bland, apple pie, resolution passed by his committee, he nevertheless is fearless in continuing to diminish the seriousness of charges made by law enforcement against Democratic endorsed Council members. Here, he dismisses the abuse of FOIL and the signing of false certifications by Dillon Moran by attacking the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department for charging Dillon Moran with subverting the city’s FOIL process. I assume that he is not concerned about any pushback from his committee.

It is hard to believe that in this day and age, the chair of a Democratic Committee would defend the blatant abuse of FOIL. One would think that the blistering criticism in the Daily Gazette editorial on this issue might have penetrated Maxwell’s consciousness. More centrally, you would think that there was some vestige of integrity in his committee to take him to task.